American Heart (1993)

Don't Believe the Hype

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Martin Bell directed "Streetwise" in the 1980s, a powerful documentary which chartered the lives of various kids and teenagers living rough on the streets of Seattle. Bell attempts to capture a similar tone with 1992's "American Heart", the story of a recently released convict (Jeff Bridges) who finds himself pursued by his needy, 12 year old son (Edward Furlong). The film watches as the duo roam the streets of Seattle, struggling to makes ends meet, keep out of trouble and hold down jobs. Some of its more powerful moments involve Bridges abandoning his son, or flashing moments of disturbing selfishness (he steals the kid's bed). Unfortunately the film as a whole eventually descends into cliché and melodramatic contrivances.Unlike "Streetwise", "American Heart's" tone is a kind of false, manufactured grittiness. The poor, and real poverty, do not behave, act, talk and feel like this. "Heart's" characters are too self-aware, too introspective , the plot's too sentimental, too structured, too manufactured, conveying a kind of imitative neo-realism, rather than something more authentic. This material needs to be handled in either an abstract/ stylised manner, as a literal documentary, or via the sanctified minimalism of a De Sica or Visconti (or the recently released "Wendy and Lucy"). Conventional neo-realism – which the French, Italians and British did in the 40s, 50s and 60s - does not, and can not, work five decades after the neo-realist movement. It simply rings false. Documentary film has changed what we expect from cinema verite, as Bell himself shows in "Streetwise".The film ends with Bridges dying and Furlong being abandoned, America's youths once again adrift. Throughout the film, Bell paints the American Dream as a literal, dead, frozen wasteland.7.5/10 - Dated. Worth one viewing.

This is a dramatic, narrative film by Martin Bell, the director of the excellent documentary "Streetwise". And while it is obvious Bell was a little uncomfortable with the narrative format, it is one of the few independent films of the 1990's that doesn't suffer from the Quentin Tarantino syndrome--i.e. it is not just a pastiche of other movies the director has seen. It's clear Bell based a lot of this movie on real life. In fact, many of the characters here were obviously based on real people in "Streetwise"--the kid and his ex-con father, the tomboy lesbian, the 14-year-old amateur hooker. The movies suffers a little in comparison to early Gus Van Sant films ("Mala Noche","Drugstore Cowboy", "My Own Private Idaho")which had similar down-and-out characters and were also set in the American Northwest. But many will find this film refreshingly honest and less pretentious, at least, than some of Van Sant's films.What really makes this film is the acting. It marked Jeff Bridges return to independent film (five or six years before "The Big Lebowski"), and his performance here makes one forgive him for the Hollywood crap he made in the 80's like "Against All Odds". Edward Furlong is also very good. I remember reading some alarmist claptrap about him in Premiere magazine around the time of this movie, about how he was dating a 30-year-old woman (oh, the horror! the horror!) and about to become another young Hollywood casualty. Well, starting with this film he ended up carving a nice little niche for himself in independent film (i.e. "Pecker", "Animal Factory"). Turns out that just because you're not starring in "Terminator 3" it doesn't necessarily mean you're sharing needles in a crack house with guys named Corey and girls named Shannen. And as a little icing on the cake this movie has a great Tom Waits theme song which you can't find any of his albums. Definitely a recommended movie.

Man, was Jeff Bridges excellent in this! Talk about being pitch perfect in a character who is trying to change and just having the hardest time. Subtle touches, like when he takes away the joint from his son, only to slip it into his own pocket. This is a good film, small gem. Rent it!

I had seen this movie years ago, but recently I bought it and viewed it again. I knew I had liked the movie when I first saw it, but this time around I loved it. It is a great drama movie with a great Father/Son relationship story. Edward Furlong is really great in this film. He plays the role the way a role like this should be played. I would recommend this movie to others who enjoy a good story and a good drama. I thought the ending was sad and personally would have enjoyed a happier ending. Great movie! Kristin